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Originally Posted by demonrail666
You're obviously better positioned than I am to know but I think it's about a popular image rather than how opposing fans might feel about him. There are massively successful sports stars who remain popular despite the fact they can destroy opposing teams' supporters' hearts: say Messi. Even Real Madrid fans struggle not to like him, whereas Ronaldo divides even Real fans, despite being almost as good as Messi, and has generally become something of a pantomime villain within the game. You'd know better than I do if that's the case with LeBron but I definitely think some players have a 'likability'/'dislikability' factor that goes beyond success and team rivalry.
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But futbol is different than NBA, its less personality driven, and the NBA season is lengthier with more games, so mathematically the top-10 guys get that many more opportunities to humiliate your own team. So NBA rivalries tend to have more animosity than other sports, because the season is so long. That, and unlike other sports, in the NBA good teams tend to swoop on the Championships consecutively and sit on them for a few years, which frustrates other teams all the more, because each year their hopes get stamped on, again. By the way, as to likability, Lebron is actually one of the most likeable guys in NBA history, he married his high school sweetheart, he is a jokester, he plays team oriented, pass-first basketball, and generally makes his teammates better. So all the beef has little to do with his personality, its mostly just his stellar game.